Box-seat, box-couch, and the like.



J. HOEY.

BOX SEAT, BOX GOUCH, AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED MAILS, 1909ummuiAllll l WJTNESSES. l 5 NVENTR //r/fjwy COLUMBIA PLANouRAPH Co.,wAsmN GGGGGGG c.

J. HOEY. B0X SEAT, B0X ooUGH, AND THB LIKE.

4 APPLICATION FILED MAR. 3, 1909.

Patented 0013.24, 1911.

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UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE.

JOHN I-IOEY, 0F SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

BOX-SEAT, BOX-COUCI-I, AND TI-IE LIKE.

1,ooe,553.

To all whom tt may concern:

Be it known that I, JOI-IN IrIoEY, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city-and county of San Francisco and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Box-Seats, Box- Couches, and the Like, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to those articles of furniture, which, by reason ofhaving a capacious receptacle to receive and store things in, arecommonly termed box-seats, boxcouches, and the like.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, effective, economicaland easily operated article of this type, which objectI attain by thenovel construction and combination of parts which I shall hereinafterdescribe.

From this description, with assistance of the accompanying drawings, towhich reference is made, the nature and special advantages of myinvention will be easily understood.

In the accompanying drawings Figure l is a perspective view of abox-seat with its cover closed. Fig. 2 is a view of the same, with itscover open. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a box-couch showing twocovers, one of which is raised and the other closed down, the upholsterybeing omitted. Fig. 4t is a view of the box-couch of Fig. 3, showing itupholstered, one cover being raised. Fig. 5 is a view vof a box-couch,prior to upholstering, showing it with a stationary back, one coverbeing raised, and the other closed.

In Figs. l and 2, I show the simplest form of my invention. It is a box,to contain anything desired. The body of the box is l, and its cover is2. One end of the body is formed with a transverse exterior recess orrabbet 3. The cover is formed with an extension 4 at one end, and saidcover is connected with the upper edge of one end wall of the body byhinges 5 which are located in the line of junction of the cover with itsextension. The effect of this construction is well illustrated in Figs.l and 2. When the cover is closed, its extension 4 over-hangs the rabbet3 of the body, as seen in Fig. 1; and when the cover is raised, as inFig. 2, said extension turns down into said rabbet, and finds a stoptherein, which, in this case, is between the meeting vertical walls ofthe two. These serve as a stable bearing or rest,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led March 3,

Patented Oct. 24, 1911.

1909. Serial No. 481,063.

to hold the cover firmly in its upright position, which position ismaintained by the weight of the cover, its center of gravity beingoutside of or beyond the line of its hinges. It will be noted that thatface or wall of the cover extension 4 which forms its bearing whenelevated, is inclined to the plane of the lower edges of t-he cover, sothat said extension is thickest at its extremity. This beveled portion,which I have designated by 6, and which I may term a beveled projection,serves two purposes, namely, first in connection with thecomplementarily beveled opposing face of the vertical wall of the rabbet3, it furnishes even a more stable support than if both faces werestraight; and second, it provides for an even line of upholstery, ift-he box is to be upholstered, or when, as I shall hereinafter describe,it is applied in a box-couch which is upholstered.

The box of Figs. l and 2, is a short box, and I have, therefore, shownonly one cover. It will be readily understood, however, that two coverscould be applied to a longer box, one at each end, to meet in thetransverse center. This will clearly appear from the description of theremaining drawings.

In Fig. 3, I show the application of my invention to a box-couch. Inthis ligure are shown two covers, one at each end and adapted to meet inand to be lifted from a line transverse of the box, here shown as themiddle line. As the several parts of this box-couch are like those ofthe box-seat of Figs. l and 2, they are designated by the same numerals.

In Fig. 4, the box-couch in Fig. 3 is shown with upholstery 7 Byobserving the line 8-8 of this upholstery at the closed end of thecouch, it will be seen that said line is uniformly straight to the veryextremity of the couch, a result rendered possible by the beveledprojection 6 of the cover extension, which gives a surface extendingdownwardly as seen in Fig. 3, below the top line of the box, adapted toreceive the straight line of tacks which commence along the upper partof the box side and continue in said projection 6, to the very end ofthe cover extension. This not only gives a presentable appearance, butit adds to the security of the upholstery fastenings, which will notpull out when the cover is up.

The limiting stop which forms the bearing for holding the overbalancedcover upright, is not necessarily that'which is formed by the meetingvertical edge of the extension 4 and the vertical wall of the rabbet 3.In some cases it may be formed by the horizontal cont-act of the end ofthe extension with the bottom wall or bottom edges of the rabbet. rIhisis practically so when upholstery is applied to the cover as in Fig. 4.In this case the upholstery is thick enough to contact with the bottomedges or wall of the rabbet, and this contact will of itself, whetherthe vertical walls actually reach each other or not, serve as the stopto hold the still overbalanced cover upright. I do not, therefore,confine myself to making the vertical edges meet, for my inventioncontemplates such a limiting stop between theA rabbet and the extensionwhich turns down into it, as will hold the cover upright, whatever maybe the lines of contact.

It is often desirable that a box-couch should have a stationary back forcushions to rest against, and to protect the wall from injury. In Fig.5, I show a back, indicated by 9, said back being a stationary one,rigidly secured to the box by bolts 10, two of which are shown, therebeing two more, one in each end strip of the back, said latter boltspassing through the box below the end rabbets. The back is thus astationary one, but is independent of the hinged covers, which, swingingparallel with the plane of the back, can be operated withoutinterference. As the cover or covers in this type of seat or couch arehinged at the ends of the box, the hinges are necessarily closetogether, so that they do not fully insure the registration of thecovers with the box, when they are closed down, nor the alinement of themeeting edges of the two covers. Any displacement of the covers,particularly a failure of the meeting edges to come to and rest in goodalinement, is unsightly in a couch, and some provision must, therefore,be made to insure their registration and alinement. I show such meansin'Fig. 2. Secured to the inner sides of the cover 2, near its free endare small cleats 2 which, when the cover is down, t withinrthe sides ofthe box and thus hold the cover true to the box; and when two covers areused, these cleats will hold their meeting ends in alinement.

In box-seats and box-couches thus constructed, the covers are turnedtoward the ends, instead of, as is customary, toward the back, orinstead of being lifted straightup, neither of which is so convenient toplace things in the box nor to remove them. In these common methodssprings or props are required, which, at best, are not very eflicient orsecure. In my construction, the interior of the box is fully exposedupon raising the cover and swinging it to the end, and the cover whenraised is so overbalanced by its own weight, especially when theweightvof the upholstery is added, as to make its upright position verystable. By making the cover in two parts, neither is very heavy and eachcan easily be manipulated, especially as each has a portion overhanging.Moreover, by hinging the covers at the ends so that they swing parallelwith the wall, or with the stationary back, the couch or seat need notbe pulled out from the wall to open or close the box, and this is truewhether the couch has a stationary back or not. In the form of the couchshown in Figs. 3 and 4, access may be had to the box from either side,and when the upholstery is worn on one side, the other side may beturned outwardly.

Having thus Adescribed my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is z- 1. A couch of the character describedcomprising a box section provided with a vrabbeted end, a cover sectionfor said box thereof.

2. A couch of the character described fhaving a box section providedwith a rabbet extending transversely of the upper portion of one endthereof, the vertical wall of said rabbet being inclined downwardly andinwardly, a cover section for said box normally positioned in ahorizontal plane with one end thereof overhanging the rab- Ibet in thebox section and terminating approximately within the vertical plane ofthe end of the box section the overhanging end of said cover beingprovided with a beveled portion extending therefrom and normally 1projecting into the rabbet of the box section, and means for hinging thecover section to the box section whereby when the same is elevated to asubstantially vertical posi tion, the beveled portion of the extensionthereof will contact with the under cut front wall ofthe rabbet of thebox section and hold the cover in its elevated position.

3. In box-seats, box-couches and the like, a box, having formed at theupper portion of each end an exterior rabbet; and two lcovers for thebox, each formed with a terminal extension, and each hinged on its lowerside to the top of the opposite ends of the box in the line of thejunction of the cover with itsL extension, whereby said extension, whenthe cover is down, overhangs the rabbet of the box, and when the coveris raised into approximately vertical position turns down into saidrabbet, and sup- .ports the cover by contact with the vertical wall ofthe rabbet, each of said covers opening and closing a part of the boxand meeting transversely thereof when closed, the extension of eachcover having its under surface formed with a beveled projectionextending outwardly into the space constituted by the rabbet when thecover is closed, and the vertical wall of each box-rabbet beingcomplementarily beveled.

4. In a couch of the character described, a bottom section having arabbeted end portion, a cover section arranged to overhang the rabbetedportion, means for hinging the cover section so that it may fold downinto the rabbeted portion when in approximately vertical position, and acovering secured to the bottom section and to the overhanging end of thecover section adapted to fold at the rabbeted portion when the coversection is open, said overhanging end of the coversection dependingsomewhat into the space formed by the rabbeted portion whereby thecovering material assumes a straight and even line at its upper edgewhen the cover section is closed. v

5. In box seats, couches and the like, a box having' formed at the upperportion of each end an exterior rabbet, and two covers for the box, eachformed with a terminal extension and each hinged on its lower side tothe top of the opposite ends of the box in the line of the junction ofthe cover with its extension, whereby said extension when t-he cover isdown overhangs the rabbet of the box and when the cover is raised intoapproximately vertical position turns down into said rabbet and supportsthe cover by contact with the vertical wall of the rabbet, each of saidcovers opening and closing a part of the box and meeting transverselythereof when closed, the extension of each cover having its undersurface formed with a beveled projection extending outwardly into thespace constituted by the rabbet when the cover is closed, and thevertical wall of each box rabbet being complementarily beveled, and acovering secured to the box and to the beveled projections of the twocovers whereby the covering material assumes a straight and even line atits upper edge when the covers are closed;

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN HOEY.

Vitnesses:

WM. F. BOOTH, D. B. RICHARDS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

